- Pimco filed a legal response late Wednesday to a recent lawsuit brought by female employees.
- The firm said it denies female employees’ recent discrimination and harassment allegations.
- It marks the first public, detailed response Pimco has filed after the five women came forward.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Pimco categorically denies recent claims of sexual harassment and discrimination that five current and former female employees brought in a lawsuit, lawyers representing the $2.2 trillion asset manager told a California court late Wednesday.
In a blanket denial of the women’s claims, the asset manager said the firm’s behavior was not discriminatory or retaliatory. It also rejected one plaintiff’s claims that she was sexually harassed by two men in senior roles while she worked there.
Newport Beach, California-based Pimco, known for its fixed-income specialization, filed its response in the Superior Court of California of the County of Orange marking the firm’s first public, detailed response since the lawsuit was filed last November.
Two of the plaintiffs, Sue Collazo and Lisa Anthony, had described allegations of harassment and discrimination, including describing the firm’s “fraternity culture” where senior male managers grant junior male employees preferential assignments at the expense of women’s advancement.
Last month three more women joined the suit with claims that included one plaintiff’s accusations of sexual harassment against Brent Harris, the former chairman of the Pimco funds board, and Daniel Tarman, the firm’s former global head of corporate communications, Insider reported. Harris and Tarman left the firm last year and in 2015, respectively.
Amanda Thiem, a former administrative assistant, said Tarman instructed her to perform sexual acts on him and told her that he had solicited sexual acts from other women in the office. Thiem also said Harris requested that she send him photos of herself, and that he would keep “dossiers” on other employees to use as blackmail.
“Pimco vigorously denies that it discriminated, harassed, or retaliated against plaintiffs in any matter, allowed a pay disparity that gives rise to equal pay violations, defrauded or made any misrepresentations to plaintiffs, violated plaintiffs’ privacy, or violated obligations to take reasonable steps to prevent or correct any type of retaliation, harassment, or discrimination,” the firm said in the filing.
A Pimco spokesperson added the firm has made clear in the filing that Pimco has “zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment or retaliation, promptly investigates any such claims and takes appropriate action when found to be accurate.”
The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount in general and compensatory damages, legal costs, and other damages.
The California-based attorney representing the women, Nancy Abrolat, said in a statement that the allegations in the complaint speak for themselves and that it was “absurd” that Pimco was delaying “these women from seeking justice.”
Abrolat is also representing Pimco lawyer Andrea Martin Inokon in a separate gender and racial discrimination suit filed in 2019. Inokon’s case is ongoing.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
